There are still a lot of diseases in this world that have no cure. One of which is the common cold. But, the common cold is just a symptom of a disease and can lead to another complication. There is a certain disease on the other hand that infects millions of people and is still incurable by doctors all over the world. Here are your top 5 most contagious diseases.
1. Gonorrhea
Gonorrhea is a common human sexually transmitted infection. Symptoms include burning sensation during urination and penile discharge in men and vaginal discharge and pelvic pain for women. Most of the time, women do not feel any symptoms until the infection has already spread. If left untreated, the result would be catastrophic for the individual. Most of the time it can lead to cancer and consequently death if left with infection. Most gonorrhea infections are treated with antibiotics but there have been known strains of gonorrhea that are resistant to such antibiotics making treatment very difficult especially for those who have been previously treated with this disease.
Around 200 out of every 100,000 males at 20 to 24 years old have gonorrhea and around 130 out of every 100,000 females at 16 to 19 years old have experienced gonorrhea. And more than 700,000 people in the United States experience gonorrhea on a yearly basis. In 2004, the rate of infection per 100,00 declined to around 110. After a small increase in 1998, the 1970s anti-gonorrhea program helped in the decline of gonorrhea infection all over the world.
In the US, gonorrhea is the second most common bacterial sexually transmitted infection after chlamydia. African-Americans are the most affected by gonorrhea citing 69 percent of all gonorrhea cases in 2010 alone. Prevention of this disease should be done through contraception and avoiding random sexual encounters.
2. Hepatitis
Hepatitis is the inflammation of the liver and is a medical condition wherein the hepatic cells or the cells found in the liver are swollen due to an infection. Infection occurs when a person ingests food that is contaminated with the virus. There are a lot of different kinds of hepatitis ranging from A to C. Hepatitis sometimes occurs without any symptoms but when it does, it leads to jaundice or the yellowish discoloration of the skin, anorexia, or the lack of appetite, and malaise or body weakening. Successive infection of hepatitis can result in fibrosis or scarring of the liver and can become liver cirrhosis which is more dangerous than hepatitis although the disease itself is not any less threatening to the health of an individual.
People are more often prone to getting hepatitis when they indulge in foods that are prepared in unsanitary ways. Hepatitis can run for several days to weeks depending on the severity of the disease as well as the status of an individual’s health. People from third-world countries suffer greatly from hepatitis as the medication is not readily available and health care services are too expensive to afford.
3. HIV/AIDS
HIV/AIDS is also known as human immunodeficiency virus infection and acquired immunodeficiency syndrome. A person with AIDS is infected with HIV. Therefore, the contaminant is HIV and the disease is called AIDS for clarification purposes. A person can get infected with HIV and subsequently develop AIDS through unprotected sex and transmission of bodily fluids such as blood and semen. During the initial infection, a person may develop a flu-like illness along with its symptoms and later disappear. There will be a prolonged period of time without any form of signs and symptoms until the immune system begins to deteriorate. This time span can be from weeks to months or sometimes even decades.
Since its discovery in west-central Africa in 1981, HIV/AIDS has claimed the lives of more than 30 million people in 2009 and more than 34 million people are currently infected with the disease. HIV/AIDS has had a great impact on how society works. People with HIV/AIDS are discriminated against due to misconceptions about a lot of information about the disease. It is also fueled by different religions that surround different types of controversies regarding HIV/AIDS.
4. Malaria
Malaria is another infectious disease that has ravaged civilization for several centuries. Malaria is a mosquito-borne disease that affects both humans and animals. The symptoms include fever, body malaise, and headache. There are also instances that the disease can take a dangerous turn and can result in comatose or death. Malaria starts with a bite from a specific type of mosquito and infects the entire system through the circulatory system and into the liver where the infecting organism known as protists mature and reproduce causing more harm to the body.
Malaria is typically diagnosed through examination of a blood sample and is run into different tests to detect the parasite’s DNA. The World Health Organization has estimated in 2010 that there are over 200 million cases of malaria all over the world and that 1.2 million people die of the disease every year many of which are children from families below the poverty line.
Malaria infections are common in tropical and subtropical regions such as Southeast Asia and South America. There are no effective vaccines against malaria making the fight against the disease very difficult. Medications include intravenous quinine and prophylaxis drugs are given for preventive measures.
5. Ebola
Ebola virus disease or Ebola hemorrhagic fever is a human disease that has been around for at least three decades. The name comes from the Ebola River in Congo where it was first discovered. The onset of the disease begins with flu-like symptoms. Diarrhea and vomiting occur along with respiratory tract infection. Fatigue, agitation, depression, seizures, and coma can happen. Rashes are bound to appear until the development of hemorrhagic symptoms appears which indicates a negative prognosis for the individual infected with the Ebola virus.
There is no current treatment for EVD or any form of vaccine that can help prevent the onset of the disease. Prognosis is poor especially when hemorrhagic symptoms start to manifest. Outbreaks of EVD have been restricted to Africa. There have been more than thousands of isolated cases of EVD in the past 30 years but the fear of its infection spreading worldwide is still present.